Nobody knows for certain what the Zodiac Killer developed into after his brief, but deadly reign over Northern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but what we do know is that he mailed numerous letters threatening the police and promising to terrorize the citizens of the Bay Area by planting bombs. The December 7th 1969 and December 16th 1969 'Fairfield' letters stated "I will go for the Goverment life" and expressed disdain for the police, promising "any time now the will be a cop". These two letters were authored by the same individual, expressing "I just need help", but neither were published in the newspapers - so when the December 20th 1969 'Melvin Belli' letter arrived just days later with a piece of taxicab driver Paul Stine's shirt and proclaiming "please help me", it goes a long way to authenticating the Fairfield letters as genuine Zodiac correspondence. Rubislaw, a regular contributor to this site, pointed me in the direction of the Spiro Agnew Files in the FBI archives, regarding threats (including bomb threats) made to President Richard Nixon in 1973 (return address Leavenworth, Kansas). Rubislaw pointed to a comparison between these threats (of which there were many) to the Steve McQueen threat letter mailed in 1977 (which included a threat to President Jimmy Carter), and highlighted on the Zodiac Killer Site forum. The comparison is justified, irrespective of whether they were authored by the same individual, as the threats were aimed at high profile people in news and television. But for now I shall concentrate on the Richard Nixon threat and the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter.

President Richard Nixon

Mark Hewitt, author of a trilogy of Zodiac books, argued a case for Theodore Kaczynski as the infamous Bay Area murderer, taking his bomb threats of 1970 into reality, when he initiated a bombing campaign in the late 1970s. Whether this is in fact the case remains to be seen, but the concept of the Zodiac Killer metamorphosing into another form of terrorism, clearly illustrated by his shift in emphasis during 1970 is not without merit. So, without further ado, we will compare the Richard Nixon threats with the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter.

The December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter opened with the line "I just want to tell youthis state is in trouble..I will go for the Goverment life". One of the Richard Nixon letters dated May 14th 1973 began "This is just to tell you, that you will die. There is no way to stop it believe me". There is a similarity in wording, which obviously may be coincidental, but both are a threat on "government life", refer to "pigs" or "cops", the two communications are written on lined paper and both have a circle as part of the logo. They are probably two separate individuals, but nevertheless, it cannot be dismissed out of hand that the Zodiac Killer may have gone through an evolution in the intervening three and a half years, developing the gravity of his threats. I certainly understand the drawbacks of handwriting comparisons, but here are the December 16th 1969, May 14th 1973 and June 8th 1977 (Steve McQueen) letters, all written on lined paper - and in which - each contained either "to tell you that", "to tell you this" and "to tell the people".

Most interesting,Richard,that you have featured this other sample of handwriting,from May 1973...which,with a number of other notes of extortion,were sent out to,at least,seven senators and congressmen,at that time.

All,essentially,threatening mayhem to come,and the lives,in particular,of Nixon,Agnew,and their famililies.

A prisoner at Leavenworth,Ronald Kessnick,initially admitted to having written these letters,along with other type written ones.He claimed that he was depressed,in light of the Watergate scandal.

But,as charges against him,became a reality,his mental state appeared to worsen.He denied some of the letters.....admitted to some of them.Then claimed that he had been coerced,by the criminal underworld....then made attempts to dismiss his defence council,and further,attempted to bribe a judge.

Eventually,the charges against Kessenick,were dropped,due to his mental instability....not least that it could not be proven that,he had written or typed,all,or some of his presumed letters of extortion.

So...moving forward to June 1977,the ''Steve McQueen'' letter,might have been ''Zodiac'' or Ronald Kessenick....or someone else.

Recently,I have favoured ''Zodiac'' as being responsible for ''all'',and believe that the three redacted names,in the ''Steve McQueen'' letter,are the three accomplices of ex-FBI agent,Claude Hubert,the presumed assassin of two Black Panther leaders,at UCLA,on January 17th 1969.

It certainly appears to be the case that the May 1973 threatening notes,and ''Steve McQueen'' letter,come from the same hand.

Naturally,we might find the truth of it,when or if the Zodiac,is apprehended.But,even then,not guarenteed.

Such handwriting ''of interest'' that emerges,does though,start asking questions about the ''extent'' of the Zodiac's engagement with extortion.